BLUFFTON, SC (July 10, 2016) -- Incoming University of
Southern California freshman Cheng Jin has sole
possession of the lead going into the final round of the
17th Annual Players Amateur at the Berkeley Hall Golf
Club South Course in Bluffton, SC.

The Beijing native carded one bogey on the front
nine before carding three birdies on the back to end up
3-
under for the day and 11-under for the tournament. “I
just try to play my game and stayed patient, I hit a lot
of
fairways today. That helped a lot,” said Jin after the
round.

Jin goes into Monday’s final round three shots
ahead of Davis Riley, who shot a bogey-free round and
birdied three holes to end the day at 8-under. Riley is
from Hattiesburg, MS and is on the University of
Alabama golf team. The rising sophomore also said
patience is important to his game, “I am not putting
myself in tough positions. I am leaving myself
reasonable birdie chances, I make a few here and there
and keep a steady pace.”

Vanderbilt’s Patrick Martin is sitting in third place at
7-under for the tournament. Martin is coming off a
strong second place finish at the Northeast
Amateur

Local favorite and Clemson golfer Bryson Nimmer
lost his second round
lead after carding four bogeys on the back nine,
knocking him to 6-under.

A cut was made after Sunday’s round to the low 30
and ties. Thirty-five contestants will be competing in the
final round which begins at 7 a.m. The leaders tee off at
9:50 a.m.

While competing in the 1999 US Amateur
Championship at Pebble Beach, former US
Walker Cup
Team members, Duke Delcher and Tom
McKnight
discussed the formation of a premier 72-hole
stroke
play amateur golf tournament. The inaugural
Players
Amateur was held the next summer. Former
British
Open Champion, Ben Curtis, was the winner of
the
2000 event. In 2004, the Heritage Classic
Foundation
began running the event. The Heritage Classic
Foundation was formed in 1987 as a 501 (c) (3),
not-
for-profit organization, it serves as the
operational
and financial oversight group for the PGA Tour
RBC
Heritage Classic. The Foundation distributes all
charitable funds generated from the tournaments
to
charity. The winner of The Players Amateur gets
an
exemption into the PGA Tour RBC Heritage
Classic, as
well as the Master of the Amateurs tournament
in
Melbourne, Australia.